A panda that has been suffering from weeks of depression at its foster
home has been given a television set. Staff at the Yunnan Wild Animal
Park in China said panda Scarlett began displaying boredom and
irritability after the last of her two companions, panda Macy, was taken
back to Sichuan on March 31st.
Scarlett and Macy, along with panda Qianqian, had been living at the
Yunnan Wild Animal Park since they were displaced from their home in
Sichuan when a magnitude 5 earthquake damaged the area in 2008.
Qianqian returned to Sichuan in 2012. Macy stayed for another couple of
years but was likewise taken home to Sichuan last March, leaving
Scarlett alone in the Yunnan foster home.
A day after Macy left, park staff said Scarlett did not go back to her
room, had not been eating well, and was sometimes grouchy.
The feeder tried to cheer up the panda by talking and playing with her
at a fixed time every day,
but Scarlett remained inconsolable.
Some Yunnan residents, sensing that Scarlett might be feeling alone and
forsaken, suggested that a mirror be installed on the playground, but
one apparently can't fool a panda to mistake its own reflection for
company. Other residents suggested installing a swing, a horizontal bar,
parallel bars, and a TV near Scarlett's "bed". The park staff also
found some childhood video footage of Scarlett and Macy and played them
back for her to watch.
So far, Scarlett has been watching the videos while eating and sounding
off a positive response to them. The staff also placed a big panda
model at the place where Macy used to live to keep Scarlett company. The
Yunnan Wild Animal Park staff management and staff are optimistic that
the various recreation facilities they installed will help bring back
Scarlett's sunny mood, and vowed to keep thinking of new ways to cheer
up the depressed panda.
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